Well, the virus is throwing all our schedules right into the shredder, and serving up large doses of anxiety. So instead of my planned post (with more grisly images of death, plague and their fellow horsemen), how about we visit a gallery?
This is the Gallery at 14 Maple, in Morristown. The show, curated by Yvette Lucas, is titled Vanishing Worlds. The information under each image is copied from the show catalog. Take a look:
In Janet Boltax’s series, “Aging in America,” we encounter people who have lived over 90+ years. Through these portraits and narratives, we are invited to visit the days that enriched and shaped their lives.
In Kate Dodd’s “Scrapbooking (with evidence bags)” piece, images are cut into commercial scrapbook papers to reveal “unspoken truths that are disguised by the glossy “good time” veneer.” She reveals the memories which we hide when sharing our past.
(Below) So the page of balloons has a bird cut out, with the cuts saved in an evidence bag labeled”NO STRINGS ATTACHED”
Bill Westheimer, in his series “Anthropocene” (the time period of humankind’s existence on the earth), gives us a vision of a future world without us. He has created fossils that are “imaginary records of flora and fauna that might be found in a future geologic era. They are evidence of what was and hints of how it might have been extinguished” after we too are gone.
The environments that we inhabit have been greatly affected by our continued use and over consumption as portrayed in Susan Ahlstrom’s memorial to extinct species of birds in “Tower of Extinction.”
(Below) Another piece by Susan Ahlstrom - “Our Town”:
(Below) a third piece by Susan Ahlstrom, “Study for Land Use” (Mixed media with Sawblades):
“The Last of the Hawks”, a photo essay by Onnie Strother, laments the end of an era where newspapers support the livelihood of the people, who sell them on street corners. Those who are rapidly being replaced by cell phones and other electronic media.
(Above) Here are four of the Tablets from my series. There are eight in the show, as well as art by Robert F. Lach, Lisa G. Westheimer and Philomona Williamson. It’s a beautiful show, which will be up until August 20……so maybe some of you will eventually get to see it in person. But not now. I went on Friday, after the Thursday opening had been cancelled, and learned that the whole gallery was closing later that day, until…..who knows.
However, the catalog is available online, at: https://www.morrisarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/final-Catalogue.-Vanishing-Worlds-March-12-August-21-2020.pdf Below is the statement from Yvette Lucas:
This exhibit explores the ways that we experience transition and change, loss and growth through memories, mistakes, achievements, and time. By viewing these worlds that the exhibiting artists have revealed, we may be witnesses to those places or moments that have been lost or will be lost in future times. Change is inevitable but how we respond to it is a choice. Some of our worlds are vanishing with the aid of human development of technology and industry. The environments that we inhabit have been greatly affected by our continued use and over consumption as portrayed in Susan Ahlstrom’s memorial to extinct species of birds in “Tower of Extinction.” Lisa G. Westheimer’s "Sponge Lamp” glows in an eerie light, like a lighthouse, warning us away from impending ecological disaster. Robert F Lach’s installation, “Dwell,” is made up of nests left empty by their inhabitants. “The Last of the Hawks”, a photo essay by Onnie Strother, laments the end of an era where newspapers support the livelihood of the people, who sell them on street corners. Those who are rapidly being replaced by cell phones and other electronic media. The gift of memory gives us access to significant moments in our lives and transport us to our previous selves no longer defining but informing who we are now. In Kate Dodd’s “Scrapbooking” piece, images are cut into commercial scrapbook papers to reveal “unspoken truths that are disguised by the glossy “good time” veneer.” She reveals the memories which we hide when sharing our past. In Janet Boltax’s series, “Aging in America,” we encounter people who have lived over 90+ years. Through these portraits and narratives, we are invited to visit the days that enriched and shaped their lives. Philemona Williamson’s paintings of children on the brink of adolescence is both enchanting and slightly unnerving as we see children transitioning into beings that are self-aware of their growing bodies in her painting “Dusty Afternoon.” In Diane Savona’s “Tablet” series, she studies the history of communication on a global scale. From ancient civilizations to the present moment, Diane wants the viewer to know that “knowledge can be lost” as some of her tablets portray the destruction of ancient centers of knowledge throughout time. When I view all these artworks there is a recurring thought that we too are vanishing and centuries from now all will be replaced. Bill Westheimer, in his series “Anthropocene” (the time period of humankind’s existence on the earth), gives us a vision of a future world without us. He has created fossils that are “imaginary records of flora and fauna that might be found in a future geologic era. They are evidence of what was and hints of how it might have been extinguished” after we too are gone. ___Yvette Lucas, Curator